I see that several times a day when I’m driving. It’s a little helpful warning printed on the side rearview mirrors of nearly every car manufactured today. I’d guess that they have prevented quite a few accidents through the years.
I think about looking at the rearview mirrors in life, especially those incidents, events and happenings that have caused us heartbreak and emotional pain. It’s kinda amazing how, even though we’re far past those things, that they can come up in our mind during the ‘dark’ times. Then when we start to give attention to them, which is common, for the natural mind, the feelings and emotions we experienced then….somehow become real again. I think this is one of those things that the Lord would really love to help us overcome.
I struggle with things like this from time to time. It’s crazy how past failures can come back to haunt you mentally if you’re not careful. These things have the potential to totally distract us and even worse they can dominate our attention and thinking to the degree that we lose our entire focus. I don’t think it’s necessary and I don’t think the Lord wants us to fret over things that have happened way back in the past…..especially since we can’t do anything about them now. The joy that we ought to be experiencing in this life seems to dissipate for me when I get in this mode.
If we go back to the analogy of driving a car it makes sense to look at the rearview mirror from time to time. It’s a safety factor. But if you think about it….it’d be insane to keep your focus on it all the time and never look ahead. I think that’s the logic we should use in life. We should definitely keep our focus on the Father! Maybe it’s productive to glance back every now and then and learn from past mistakes….but to keep our focus on those things is sure to cause a wreck!
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